RECONNECTING SERIES - Message #6
Reconnecting Through Work
11-27-11
SCRIPTURE READING: Genesis 1:20-31, 2:15-17
20 And God said, "Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens." 21 So God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 And God blessed them, saying, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth." 23 And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.
24 And God said, "Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds—livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds." And it was so. 25 And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
26 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth."
27 So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.
28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth." 29 And God said, "Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. 30 And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food." And it was so. 31 And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
Genesis 2:15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, "You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die." ESV
THIS IS THE WORD OF THE LORD
This is the 6th and final message on a series of talks on reconnecting; reconnecting with God, with each other and with all creation. This talk is about two aspects of the theology of work (labor).
A. The connection between work and the earth and food.
B. How work connects us relationally to God and each other.
We just did our national day of thanksgiving, which, if I understand it right, is supposed to be a time to raise our thanks before God for blessing the work of our hands. So let’s look very briefly at what is often billed as THE FIRST AMERICAN THANKSGIVING
Two men, William Bradford and Edward Winslow, were there and we have their first hand accounts of some of details of the events of Autumn 1621 in the Plymouth colony. Here is an an excerpt from one of Winslow’s letters sent to loved ones in England.
"Our harvest being gotten in, our governor sent four men on fowling, that so we might after a special manner rejoice together after we had gathered the fruits of our labor. They four in one day killed as much fowl as, with a little help beside, served the company almost a week. At which time, amongst other recreations, we exercised our arms, many of the Indians coming amongst us, and among the rest their greatest king Massasoit, with some ninety men, whom for three days we entertained and feasted, and they went out and killed five deer, which we brought to the plantation and bestowed on our governor, and upon the captain and others. And although it be not always so plentiful as it was at this time with us, yet by the goodness of God, we are so far from want that we often wish you [were] partakers of our plenty."
I love that phrase; “partakers of our plenty.”
But think about it. The Pilgrims knew that if they didn’t work with their hands, and if God didn’t bless that work, they would actually die of starvation over the winter. Half of them had died the winter before from the effects of malnutrition and starvation which came upon them from arriving when it was already late in November. And now, about 9 months later Winslow is wishing that his friends and family in England could come and “partake of our plenty.”
What plenty? Did they win the lottery or something? Did they discover central heating, indoor plumbing, hot showers and warm potties? Did they have cable TV, internet access and cell phones? Did they have hours to spend in front of a computer screen catching up on 500 people’s Facebook page? Not really!
They were literally living day by day on the food produced and prepared by the work of their own hands—living hand to mouth as they say. But here is Winslow wishing that others could come and partake of their plenty. It is truly remarkable for him to say such a thing…and mean it. If we could just click back to that celebration how would their plenty appear to our eyes today? Think about that!
And while you’re at it, think about our Scripture reading from Genesis where God placed Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden and told them to act as caretakers for the earth, also to till the soil for food production, but not just labor to grow it, also labor to gather and prepare it for eating. Six days they were to labor like that and then rest from their labors every seventh day, only to return to their labors again the next day, no retirement, no social security, …and what else???, No restaurants!!!!.
You might be tempted to think; “Wow! Look what sin did to the perfect set up in the garden paradise.” Well yes lets do think about that, but this that I am referring to was life in Eden before sin came in and made everything difficult. So what made Eden so wonderful?
Let me tell you what made it so wonderful. Adam and Eve held a godly view of the earth their part in caring for it. And they had a godly view of the work God had given them to do as well as a godly view of their own bodies and how they were to funtion in creation.
They saw themselves working not FOR but WITH God. And as they worked in the very soil from which their physical beings had been formed they saw that this work was a very gracious means given by God by which they fellowshipped WITH each other. It was God who wanted them to feel vitally connected not ONLY in the cool of the evening, but even in the day so that they might feel connection to both heaven and earth. But what has happened to us?
Sin! Sin has happened to us. It has corrupted our view of God, of the earth, of ourselves, of others, and corrupted our view of work. An increasing number among us think of work as too hard, too boring, too unfair, an interruption. In fact some see it as cruel and unusual punishment, something to be avoided if at all possible.
There are those (and I agree with some of what they say) who suggest that what we have been calling “unparalleled progress and wealth” here in the U.S.A. all these years is not that at all. In fact it has brought new kinds and new depths of poverty down upon us. How?
Because in the midst of our stuff we have lost the sense of God’s gracious fellowship with us in our labors—lost the sense of the connection between the work of our own hands and the food in our mouths, and this is producing in us a severe kind of poverty of relationship to God, with the planet itself as well as with each other.
In the book "When Helping Hurts", Brian Fikkert points out that wide spread poverty “is rooted in broken relationships, which means that the long term solution to poverty is rooted in the power of Jesus’ death and resurrection to put all things in right relationship again.”
The Apostle Paul is uncomfortably direct in talking about the work we do (or don’t do) and how it affects our relationships with the non-Christian world.
Writing to believers he says;
1 Thessalonians 4:11 This should be your ambition: to live a quiet life, minding your own business and doing your own work, just as we told you before. 12 As a result, people who are not Christians will trust and respect you, and you will not need to depend on others for enough money to pay your bills. TLB)
And there is this; 2 Thessalonians 3:10 Even while we were still there with you, we gave you this rule: "He who does not work shall not eat." 11 Yet we hear that some of you are living in laziness, refusing to work, and wasting your time in gossiping. 12 In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ we appeal to such people-we command them-to quiet down, get to work, and earn their own living. 13 And to the rest of you I say, dear brothers, never be tired of doing right. TLB
And this; Ephesians 4:28 Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. ESV
In Paul’s second letter to Timothy we find one further layer of instructions regarding the relationship between working and eating.
He writes saying; 1 Timothy 5:3 Take care of widows who are destitute. 4 If a widow has family members to take care of her, let them learn that religion begins at their own doorstep and that they should pay back with gratitude some of what they have received. This pleases God immensely. 5 You can tell a legitimate widow by the way she has put all her hope in God, praying to him constantly for the needs of others as well as her own. 6 But a widow who exploits people’s emotions and pocketbooks — well, there’s nothing to her. 7 Tell these things to the people so that they will do the right thing in their extended family. 8 Anyone who neglects to care for family members in need repudiates the faith. That’s worse than refusing to believe in the first place.
9 Sign some widows up for the special ministry of offering assistance. They will in turn receive support from the church. They must be over sixty, married only once, 10 and have a reputation for helping out with children, strangers, tired Christians, the hurt and troubled. (MsgB)
Concerning watching out for those in need, Jesus said; Matthew 25:38 And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39 And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 40 And the King will answer them, ’Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ ESV
To summarize;
• If spending time and energy in working is not your current situation, you should make it your ambition to find work and do it. (In a couple of minutes we’ll talk more about this.).
• Those who are capable of work should work in order to be self-sufficient.
• Those who enjoy the blessing of God upon their work must be ready to help the helpless, i.e., widows, orphans, the destitute.. Exodus 22:22-29 says act generously toward the poor so “… that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands that you do. ESV.
• The needs of those who can work but don’t are not the church’s responsibility. Each able person should ambitiously seek to be self-reliant as well as be helpful to others.
• Those who develop a reputation for exploiting people’s emotions and pocketbooks are not to be helped.
• The widows whom Paul describes as “destitute” are to be cared for, but even they should establish themselves in the work of helping out with children, caring for strangers, providing help to ailing and weary Christians, and aiding those who are going through troubles.
• Destitute children (orphans) are to be cared for in a similar way as true widows because they have no way to help themselves.
• In ministering to the truly needy we are ministering to Jesus.
BACK TOTHE YEAR 1621 AND BACK TO THE GARDEN
Going back to the colonists of 1621, clearly the pilgrims understood the relationship between laboring and living, between their hands and their mouth.
Paul understood the labor and life connection and worked at the tent making trade so as to be self-sufficient. And he wanted Timothy and all the churches to understand the work and food and fellowship connection as well.
The wandering Israelites understood it too. Each morning of the week each family was to gather a day’s portion of the manna that God supplied, except on the sixth day when they were to gather a double portion so they could rest from their work on the seventh day. Each family, in obedience to God, sustained themselves by the work of their own hands.
Adam and Eve understood it. Six days they worked and rested on the seventh only to go back to their work on the day following the seventh. That was life lived in the perfect blessing of God.
The point is simply this, that temporal blessings do not just come to us on a tray without labor. And even the temporal blessings I have by means of my own labor are not to be viewed as simply “my own stuff”. I am to be ready at all times to share any blessing of abundance with those who are in need.
There is a very early letter written between 130 and 200 A.D. by a man calling himself Mathetes. His letter was written in response to a man called Diognetus, who wanted to know more about the Christian way of life; what did they believe and how did they live. So here is a brief excerpt from this lengthy letter (Epistle) to Diognetus.
“For Christians cannot be distinguished from the rest of the human race by country or language or customs. They do not live in cities of their own; they do not use a peculiar form of speech; they do not follow an eccentric manner of life. ….They live in their own countries, but only as aliens. They have a share in everything as citizens, and endure everything as foreigners. Every foreign land is their fatherland, and yet for them every fatherland is a foreign land. They marry, like everyone else, and they beget children, but they do not cast out their offspring. They share their food with each other, but not their marriage bed. … They busy themselves on earth, but their citizenship is in heaven. They obey the established laws, but in their own lives they go far beyond what the laws require.”
There is lots to talk about in that excerpt but my only reason for quoting it is for you to see utter simplicity of how early Christians lived. They busied themselves on earth and shared their food.
Do people ever need direct help? Absolutely!
A flood may have swept your feet out from under you and you have a temporary need with no means whatever to be productive. This is temporary and legitimate and you need relief in order to become productive again.
Your may have suffered some serious breakdown of your health and you physically or emotionally can’t stand or walk. In such a case you may need some relief until you recover.
You may be advanced in years, can no longer work, and never will be able to work again. You need help and God instructs your families (when possible) or your neighbors to help supply for your material and emotional needs.
On the other hand, you may be retired from the labor force and are supporting yourself and helping others by your savings or pension. All well and good—wonderful in fact. You have done your work, still have left over “food” so to speak, but you will never retire from the work of God. Your time and energy still belong to God and are to be poured out for His glory.
Thanks be to God for those who receive help from some government programs when they are in crisis. But I will say that there are instances (and I think they are on the increase) when government agencies ( for lack of oversight ) do more harm than good by helping people who are not so much unable to work but permanently unwilling. This kind of help may appear to be alleviating material poverty, but it leads to more and deeper forms of poverty.
1. poverty of self-reliance.
2. poverty of confidence.
3. poverty of energy and capacity.
4. poverty of gratitude (entitlement takes its place)
5. impoverished relationships with God and others.
6. poverty in our understanding of the glory and wealth of creation.
These agencies may think they are keeping material destitution at bay, but where these forms of help proliferate these other virulent forms of poverty grow like wild vines to strangle the life out of entire communities and cultures that were once productive, self-sufficient communities where people respected life and each other.
What if you find yourself on the helping end of a government program, what then?
• For one thing, you need to hold the view that God is graciously supplying for your need through someone else’s labor at the moment, and therefore you are not free to sleep and waste your own time doing nothing productive.
• For another thing, as a disciple of Jesus you must honestly look for work and when you are not doing that, you need to purposefully engage in some volunteer work for the common good of the community in which you live. Work through a reliable charity. Work through you local church or some parachurch organization in order to give back to the labor pool by which God is supplying for your needs. The fact that you are not working at the moment in no way diminishes your value. You still have all the value and assets and purpose that you were created with. You are equipped for a capacity to be productive.
We are connected to Him and each other by the work of our hands.
Ephesians 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. ESV
Here is where I want you to see the very first labor union.
God has your back. He has set work aside for you, prepared it before hand, so that you can walk in it. Talk about job security.
But time marches and there are opportunities for work at this moment that if not used will never recur in this or the world to come.
Ecclesiastes 9:10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might ESV
These work is right where you live. It may not be, probably won’t be romantic, but it’s all yours. It can be any legal and moral work that you find to do and are capable of doing. It can be work in the dirt like a farmer, work raising children like a mother, work in a garage or hospital or office or driving a truck, or volunteer work until paying work comes along. Solomon (not a stupid man) put it like this
It will not do to say “Well, there is only one kind of work that I will do and I will not work until that kind of work comes along.” You will only say that if you have a romantic view of work. Work is not meant to feed your romantic notions. Work is God’s way of your own hand feeding your own mouth. Do the work that presents itself to your hand and then to do it with all your might, care, vigor, and resolution because this is the work of the Lord has for you to do.
There is news in the July 2011 issue of Christianity Today about a great ingathering of souls in Northern India. Go to: http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2011/july/indiagrassroots.html
Seasoned missionaries report that in so far as they know this is such a work as has never been seen in India. The work is exploding among the those known as India’s untouchables or Dalits as they are called in India. These people have always been viewed as less than human, lived on nothing and suffered in everyway imaginable. Now the Holy Spirit is pouring out the very life of Jesus upon and in them. And from within their own society God is raising up evangelist and a thousand new witnesses ever day.
Suddenly they see choices they never saw before. They are forming schools for their children, hiring teachers, setting up micro-industries, becoming self-sufficient and gaining some traction in basic material possession.
But more exciting that what is happening is why. The Gospel of redemption and forgiveness and new life in Christ is the cause of this explosion of creativity and productivity.
In just the last 5 years they have baptized 8,000 new converts and all the evangelism is coming from within their own ranks. True, the do not have the material wealth that we have, but on the other hand they are richer in faith, in hope, in relationships than we are. When it comes to that kind of wealth we are the paupers. Didn’t someone say, “The last shall be first.”?
But they don’t have anything that God does not offer to us, and if we will pray and trust and labor then the kind of poverty experienced by the average American Christian will be wiped out the the Holy Spirit. And there will come a day when you will stand before the Lord and hear Him say; Well done, good and faithful servant.
Every time you helped even the least noticed of my brethren (an American brand of India’Dalit) you were actually doing that work unto Me. By the work of your hands, even more than by your Sunday morning singing you glorified My name, and brought the message of reconciliation through grace to many.
